1. عن يمين الحيِّ من إِضَمِ

    سربُ غزلانٍ تبيحُ دمي

    To the right of the encampment at Idam,

    a herd of gazelles deems my blood lawful to spill.

  2. يا لقومي من لواحظهم

    أسرت في الحب كلَّ كمي

    O my people, save me from their glances!

    They have taken every armored warrior captive in love.

  3. والوجوه الغر طالعة

    أوجدوا وجدي من العدم

    With the radiant faces shining forth,

    they brought my longing into being from nothing.

  4. واستباحوا يوم جفوتهم

    مهجتي شوقاً لوصلهم

    And on the day they shunned me, they made free with

    my lifeblood, as I longed for union with them.

  5. واستهانوا بي وقد قهروا

    ثم صالوا صول منتقم

    And they made light of me, though they had subdued me,

    then attacked with an avenger's onslaught.

  6. ليت لو جادوا ولو سمحوا

    لي ولو بالطيف في الحلم

    If only they were generous and would grant

    me even a phantom visitation in a dream.

  7. أيها العذال في شغفي

    لومكم من أخبث الكلم

    O you who reproach me for my passion,

    your reproach is among the foulest of words.

  8. لو شهدتم ما أشاهده

    من حبيبي ذقتمو ألمي

    If you witnessed what I behold

    in my beloved, you would taste my pain.

  9. لكن الألباب زائغة

    لا تعي والطرف عنه عمي

    But minds are wayward;

    they cannot comprehend, and the eye is blind to him.

  10. قربوا منا مسامعكم

    علَّكم أن تسمعوا حكمي

    Bring your ears close to us,

    perhaps you may hear my words of wisdom.

  11. واعلموا أني نصحتُ لكم

    لو عقلتم ما يقول فمي

    And know that I have counseled you sincerely,

    if you could understand what my mouth says.

  12. غير أني في نصيحتكم

    ناثر درّاً على غنم

    Yet in counseling you I am

    scattering pearls upon sheep.

  13. كيف تصغي العاذلون لنا

    وهم الأعدا من القِدَم

    How can the reproachers listen to us,

    when they have been enemies from of old?

  14. كل مغرور بغير هدىً

    ربُّه ناشٍ من الوَهَم

    Every deluded man without guidance—

    his lord springs from illusion.

  15. عابد من فكره صنماً

    هائمٌ بالجهل في الصنم

    Worshipping an idol fashioned from his own thought,

    infatuated, through ignorance, with that idol.

  16. محض تشبيه عقيدته

    في سوى التجسيم لم يَهِم

    His creed is nothing but likening God to creation;

    he has been enamored of nothing but making God corporeal.

  17. جاهل بالطبع لذته

    لذة الثيران والنَعَم

    Ignorant by nature, his pleasure

    is the pleasure of bulls and livestock.

  18. وعلى تشبيهه حذرٌ

    خائفٌ منّا عليه ظمي

    And he keeps watch over his likening of God to creation,

    afraid of us for its sake, parched with thirst.

  19. إن نقل تنزيهُ خالقنا

    قال هذا زلة القدم

    If our Creator's transcendence is proclaimed,

    he says, "This is a slip of the foot."

  20. وإذا بالفتح فهتَ لَهُ

    حلَّ مني ساحة التهم

    And when you speak to him of spiritual illumination,

    he enters the arena of accusations against me.

  21. يا بني قومي ومن ألِفوا

    نصرتي في كل مزدحم

    O sons of my people, and you who are accustomed

    to aiding me in every throng,

  22. ذاكروني في مواجدكم

    عل أن يشفى بكم سقمي

    converse with me about your ecstasies,

    perhaps through you my sickness may be cured.

  23. واسألوا برق الحمى كرماً

    عن لويلات بذي سلم

    And kindly ask the lightning of the protected grounds

    about little nights at Dhu Salam.

  24. هل له في عودهنَّ لنا

    إذ له التصريف في الحرم

    Would it care to see them return to us,

    since it holds sway within the sacred precinct?

  25. ليت أهل المنحنى عطفوا

    لي وراعوا حرمة الذمم

    If only the people of the bend would show favor

    to me, and honor the sanctity of pledges.

  26. أغمضوا عنا لواحظكم

    قد مزجتم دمعتي بدمي

    Close your glancing eyes to us;

    you have already mingled my tear with my blood.

  27. واعملوا أني شغفت بكم

    وأنا من جملة الخدم

    And act on this: I am deeply enamored of you,

    and I am among the servants.

  28. هائم صبٌ كثيرُ جوى

    في الهوى لحمٌ على وَضَم

    Distraught and lovesick, full of burning anguish,

    in love I am meat upon a butcher's block.

  29. كل أحوالي بكم ظهرت

    وغرامي غير منكتم

    All my states have come to light through you,

    and my passion is not concealed.